Arizona reaches $1M settlement in illegal telemarketing case

PHOENIX — A carpet cleaning company will pay Arizona $1 million in civil penalties in an illegal telemarketing settlement, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

The settlement also banned the company, Adobe Carpet Cleaning, from making telemarketng calls for the next six years.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office filed a suit against the company’s owner, Anthony Tafoya, last year. The consumer fraud lawsuit alleged Tafoya’s company contacted people on the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registry.

“People have a right to privacy in their own homes without being hounded by illegal telemarketers,” said Brnovich in a release about the case.

Adobe Carpet Cleaning is a flooring company in Arizona that sells carpet, upholstery and tile cleaning services throughout the state.

“Telemarketing and robocalls are probably the number one complaint that the attorney general’s office receives,” said Mia Garcia, spokesperson for Brnovich.

The Do Not Call Registry was established in 1991 and designed to stop telemarketers from soliciting to people who signed up for the registry.

Enacted by the FTC, the Do Not Call Registry has recovered over $50 million in civil penalties through 121 resolved cases since its inception.

Charities, debt collectors, political groups and surveys are exempt from following the guidelines of the Do Not Call Registry.